Pralada | The Hare Krishna Movement

Nṛsiṁha-caturdaśī The Appearance day of Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva

11 May 2025 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in Uncategorized Tags: appearance-day-of-lord-nrishma, consciousness, Krishna, lord-nrsima, Nrsimha, philosophy, Pralada, religion, spirituality

Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva’s Appearance Day

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.5.22-34 Lecture
By His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Los Angeles, May 27, 1972

So today, appearance day of Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva. Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva appeared on this Nṛsiṁha Cāturdaśī on account of His devotee, Prahlāda. As it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata, abhyutthānam adharmasya [Bg. 4.7]. Paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtāṁ, sambhavāmi yuge yuge [Bg. 4.8]. The Lord appears with two purposes. Paritrāṇāya sādhūnām: just to give protection and rescue the devotees, and to kill the demons, vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām. So Prahlāda Mahārāja, five-years-old boy, his only fault was that he was Kṛṣṇa conscious. He was devotee of Kṛṣṇa. That was his only fault. And the father was so unkind to a child, even five years old. He could not excuse, “Oh, let this boy do whatever, chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa.” No. The demons are so much against God consciousness that even at his home he would not allow his own child to become God conscious. This is demoniac civili… So you’ll find many critics, many enemies, because you are making progress in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So the demons are always against this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. That is the whole history. Just like Lord Jesus Christ, he was crucified. What was his fault? He was preaching God consciousness, that’s all. This society is so cruel. So Prahlāda Mahārāja was tortured in so many ways. The torturing methods, I think you will find as you will see in today’s picture, how Prahlāda Mahārāja was tortured.

So one day, Hiraṇyakaśipu… After all, he was his son. Affection was there. So one day, Hiraṇyakaśipu asked the boy,

prahrādānūcyatāṁ tāta
svadhītaṁ kiñcid uttamaṁ
kālenaitāvatāyuṣman
yad aśikṣād guror bhavān
[SB 7.5.22]

So he asked his son, “My dear son, what you have learned? The best thing, what you have learned from your teachers, so you kindly let me know.” So Prahlāda Mahārāja informed that “I have learned like this.” What is that?

The Dearmost Person

26 Jan 2025 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in Uncategorized Tags: faith, God, human life, Jesus, Krishna Consciousness, philosophy, Prahlada Maharaja, Pralada, spirituality, Srila Prabhupada lecture

The Dearmost Person

Srila Prabhupada Lecture on Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 7, Chapter 6, 1968

Today I shall speak to you of the history of a boy devotee named Prahlāda Mahārāja. He was born in a family that was stubbornly atheistic. There are two kinds of men in this world: the demons and the demigods. What is the difference between them? The main difference is that the demigods, or godly persons, are devoted to the Supreme Lord, whereas the demons are atheistic. They do not believe in God because they are materialists. These two classes of men always exist in this world. At the present moment, due to the Age of Kali (Age of Quarrel), the number of demons has increased, but the classification has existed since the beginning of creation. The incident I am narrating to you occurred very, very long ago, a few million years after the time of creation.

Prahlāda Mahārāja was the son of the most atheistic person and the most materially powerful as well. Because the society was materialistic, this boy had no opportunity to glorify the Supreme Lord. The characteristic of a great soul is that he is very eager to broadcast glorification of the Supreme Lord. Lord Jesus Christ, for example, was very eager to broadcast the glorification of God, but demoniac people misunderstood him and crucified him.

The Dearmost Person

29 Jul 2023 2 Comments

by The Hare Krishna Movement in A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Lectures, Prahlada Maharaja, Srimad Bhagavatam Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, demigods, demons, Krishna, Pralada, Pralada Maharaja, Srimad Bhagavatam, the dearmost person

The Dearmost Person

Srila Prabhupada Lecture on Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 7, Chapter 6, 1968

Prayers Offered to Lord Nrsimhadeva

13 May 2014 Leave a comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Lord Nrsimhadeva, Nrsimha Tags: A.C. Bhaktiveanta Swami Prabhupada, appearance day of lord nrsimhdeva, Lord Nrsimha, Nrsimhadeva, Pralada, Srimad Bhagavatam, Supreme Personality of Godhead

Today we honor the Appearance day of Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, with a fast till sunset and the following text from the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. So shortly after the Lord killed Hiraṇyakaśipu, and his armies, the Lord sat Himself on the throne of Hiraṇyakaśipu, and was offered prayers by all the assembled saintly persons and demigods.

…The Lord not only killed Hiraṇyakaśipu, the King of the demons, but also killed many of his followers. When there was no one else to fight, the Lord, roaring with anger, sat down on Hiraṇyakaśipu’s throne.

The entire universe was thus relieved of the rule of Hiraṇyakaśipu, and everyone was jubilant in transcendental bliss. Then all the demigods, headed by Lord Brahmā, approached the Lord. These included the great saintly persons, the Pitās, the Siddhas, the Vidyādharas, the Nāgas, the Manus, the prajāpatis, the Gandharvas, the Cāraṇas, the Yakṣas, the Kimpuruṣas, the Vaitālikas, the Kinnaras and also many other varieties of beings in human form. All of them stood not far from the Supreme Personality of Godhead and began offering their prayers unto the Lord, whose spiritual effulgence was brilliant as He sat on the throne. (from the chapter summary)

Sinister Father Saintly Son

08 Oct 2012 1 Comment

by The Hare Krishna Movement in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Back to Godhead, Prahlada Maharaja, Srimad Bhagavatam Tags: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Absolute Truth, Back to Godhead Magazine, Brahma, demigods, demon, devotee of God, great devotion, hiranyakasipu, king indra, Lord Nrsimhadeva, Narada, Pralada, pralhada maharaja, Queen Kayadhu

Sinister Father Saintly Son

“Like father like son,” the saying goes. So how was it that the most sinister personality ever to darken the universe fathered a great saint?

Adapted from Srimad-Bhagavatam, translation and commentary
By His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

A vicious storm raged through the darkness. Pierce winds hissed again and again and uprooted gigantic trees. Thick clouds covered the sky, and lightning flashed as though laughing. The ocean with its high waves wailed as if stricken with sorrow. Jackals and dogs howled ominously, and birds flew shrieking from their nests. The twin demons Hiranyakasipu and Hiranyaksa were being born.

Day by day, year after year, they grew more powerful, more evil, and more dominant over all the other demons, who made alliances with them. Then, under the direction of Hiranyaksa and Hiranyakasipu, the demons set out to conquer the demigods, their archenemies and the administrators of the universe. In their war for universal power, the demons enjoyed many victories, but at last Lord Visnu [Krsna] Himself killed Hiranyaksa. His brother’s death overwhelmed Hiranyakasipu with grief and rage. He bit his lips and gazed upward with eyes whose blazing anger filled the sky with smoke. He took up his trident, glanced around fiercely, bared his terrible teeth, and began to speak to his demon friends.